Business Strategy vs. Business Tactic

Strategy: an action plan that you will take to achieve a final goal. These are set to help businesses figure out what their long-term goals are. Tactic: individual steps taken to help the business achieve the end goal. These two work synonymously together to help a brand reach its goals. Both are necessary for brand success. How do you know if you have a good strategy and a good tactics plan?

Good strategies include:

1.     Clear vision and goals

2.     Realistic goals

3.     Back up plans

4.     Efficient resource allocation

5.     Prioritization

6.     Streamlining the team toward common goal

Good tactics include:

1.     Assign specific tasks to those most qualified

2.     Evaluated for effectiveness

3.     Well-reasoned

4.     Have a timeline

5.     Use results for future planning

The relationship between these two but strategy will always come first. The goal must be clear to assign specific tasks on how to get there. Tactics alone will fall short alone. First, identify the overall business goal and then work on tactics on how to get there. Together they will take your brand to new heights.

Sex Appeal Advertising

We’ve all heard the saying, “Sex sells,” but many issues surround this idea of advertising. It is initially meant to evoke positive feelings about a brand association but one study shows that while people prefer ads with high sex appeal at first glance, when they are in the evaluation stage they prefer ads with low sex appeal (National Library of Public Medicine). While sexual imagery can bring attention to an ad it’s always a risky choice. Here we’re going to highlight the pros and cons of sexual advertising.

Pros:

1.     Grabs attention: makes an impression and gets the viewers’ attention quickly.

2.     Improves brand recall: Most people will remember a sexually appealing ad. Although, they may not remember what they were selling, they will remember the ad itself.

3.     Some positive associations: Some brands use this tactic in the “buy this to get this” model. For example, a cologne brand may use risqué imagery to show that using it could make one more attractive, and some people do want that.

Cons:

1.     Not family-friendly: It can limit the amount of people that you can market your brand to. If it’s not wholesome parents won't want it

2.     It promotes sexism: it shows the objectification of bodies. A study done in Italy in 2014 observed that “81.27% of women in advertising are depicted as models, sexually available or pre-orgasmic, used as decoration, or fragmented into body parts, whereas the sum of the corresponding categories for men is under20% (Italian Art Director Club report by Guastini).

3.     Body image dysmorphia: Many women feel pressure from constant advertisements promoting physical attractiveness which can adversely affect women’s body image. Ultra-thing ideals are pushed on women of all ages and this is a concern for many health professionals. 

Whether or not your brand should use sexual advertising is a very important decision to make. Using sex appeal in an appropriate way can depend on the type of brand, but it also has to consider the negative effects it may have on society as a whole or brand image. The choice is going to be different for each brand.

Using Good Storytelling in Content Creation

The art of storytelling goes back far back into human history with petroglyphs almost 12 thousand years ago. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been telling stories for that long. Humans are drawn to a good story. We continue to be fascinated by books, movies, shows, and even chatting in our living rooms to catch up with friends. Compelling content is based on great storytelling. As content creators, you want to hook your audience in and make them want to hear what comes next. This can even be true in short-form video content. This can’t be truer in today’s digital age when people can just swipe through your video because they’re already bored in the first few seconds of seeing it. Though be it short, you still want to follow traditional storytelling techniques. Understanding the elements that make a good story is crucial to your content’s success and performance.

1.     Understand your audience: who is watching your videos? What do they care about? If you’re a fitness content creator, they probably won’t want to watch something on cooking. it should also reinforce your brand voice.

2.     A compelling narrative: start with a clear, concise theme that has a clear beginning, middle, and end with smooth transitions.

3.     Relatable characters: the character should be well-developed. Let’s say that you’re a comedian. You want to create a specific character with a distinct personality. How does this character relate to your audience? What do they have in common?

4.     Emotional appeal: you want to be authentic and appeal to some type of emotion. Is it humor? Is it happy? Is it angry? This will be where knowing your audience comes into play. What types of challenges do they face? What motivates them? What is it that they care about? What are their values and beliefs?

5.     Use the 5 senses: this can create a life-like description that the audience can feel like they are there with you.

6.     Story arc: this is the structure that moves your audience through events. It typically builds to the point. Lead them there with a good hook, some tension, and finally to the conclusion. Make them want to see what that is.

Storytelling in content creation is a powerful way to encourage your audience to stay engaged and possibly even act. Here’s an experiment, do two different video content clips. One of those videos doesn’t follow these guidelines and you just kind of post something with no specific structure. Now, do a similar post that follows good storytelling guidelines for the video and post. Compare the performance insights to see which one did better. We’re certain that you will find it in the second video. Stand out in a sea of creators. Create engaging content that people won’t be able to ignore.

Lagos: Rational Appeal Advertising

As we’ve been talking about emotional advertising, the other side of that coin is unemotional advertising based on reasoning and logic. This rational advertising relies on data, facts, and proof. These advertisements focus on the functional needs of the audience and what they gain by purchasing them. There are a couple of standard ways to appeal to logic.

1.     Better Quality of Life: this is typically seen in the medical field or health and fitness industries. Pain-free living, healthier body, and mind, etc.

2.     Product or service benefits: this is where a company highlights what makes them stand out from their competitors and why they should be chosen over them. This focuses on some benefits they offer that the other brands don’t.

3.     Financial security: everyone wants to feel financially secure. Using charts, graphs, data, and numbers is good here. These are usually ads used in the financial industry.

4.     Authority: usually endorsements by government officials, etc. Providing backing from these authority figures can increase the rationale for choosing this product over another.

5.     Safety: this one focuses on how their brand is safe or makes customers’ lives safer. Think about the auto industry here and promoting safety ratings for vehicles.

Logos is logic and it is obvious why it works in advertising. It won’t work for every brand, though, depending on their niche, but if it does fit a brand, you can win over your audience by appealing to their reasoning.

Get Your Content Licensed: A Guide for Content Creators

We deal with a lot of content creators and influencers on the daily. Some of them are very organized, and others, not-so-much. Their mistakes have led to good content that went to waste. If you are a content creator or influencer it’s important to understand a few things to remain successful when dealing with agencies like us. Here is our list of do’s and don’ts to get your content licensed so you can make money.

1.     Don’t outprice yourself: there are industry standards. We compensate correctly and fairly. If you’re unsure how much your content is worth, there are plenty of resources out there with calculators as well as guides to help you.

2.     Don’t let “management” outprice you: A lot of times, “management” or representation proposes pricing that blows the brand out of the water, so the content does not get selected. A good manager knows the correct industry rates. Also, make sure that your management team is responding to inquiries in a timely fashion. Ask to audit them. If they are doing right by you, they shouldn’t have a problem with showing you receipts.

3.     Film your content logo free: no logos, please! Strive to create content that is completely logo-less or as logo free as possible. This could be the deciding factor in choosing your content over someone else’s. it’s better to license videos that are for editing purposes and typically, a brand does not want to see a huge blur over a Nike logo on a t-shirt, center screen in their commercial.

4.     Create family-friendly content: try to do this as much as possible. A lot of times the brands we’re sourcing for, want family-friendly content.

5.     Respond promptly: a lot of times there are backup selects that we have in mind so if we don’t hear back from you or your management, we will go with those and not choose your content. Make sure your inbox settings do not always usher inquiries to an “other” folder where you won’t initially see the messages. You can always delete spam on the fly. You can’t always make the deadline of the commercial if you miss the reach out!

6.     Be careful where you submit your content/and which agreements you sign: most creators don’t realize that when you submit your content to be featured on a website, that you are granting that entity to own your content exclusively. Also, companies will approach creators with an EXCLUSIVE agreement. While it seems like this will be great at first, you relinquish control of your content, and sometimes, your content will be shelved forever, and you’ll never be able to get out of the agreement. Don’t fall victim to this and make sure you read the fine print, including the terms of service for platforms, to remain the copyright holder of your content.

7.     NEVER film your content inside the Tik Tok App: When you film using Tik Tok’s proprietary camera, they own an exclusive to your content, which means you need permission from them to make any money from the content.  This makes your content un-licensable. Always film or shoot on your phone or camera, AND THEN if you want to upload to Tik Tok, we can still license your video/still/audio/design for a commercial.

8.     Beware of SCAMS: There are a ton of scams out there whether it be a text message, an email with a blurry PayPal prompt telling you that your account has been locked, or a series of others. The trick to identify this is PERSONALIZATION. If someone reaches out to you by your real name, provides examples of work, and asks for an in-person call/video chat, they are most likely, NOT a scam.

We hope that this helps any content creators out there who have questions about best practices may have when dealing with agencies such as ourselves. We want to see content creators thrive. Our business wouldn’t be where it is without them, so we appreciate all their hard work and dedication to their craft. We understand it can be a tedious job at times. Happy creating!

Emotional Advertising: Humor Appeal

Let’s take our PEMCO advertisement for example. It appeals to the humor of insurance through user-generated content videos we licensed for the spot. These videos consisted of “whoops” moments such as throwing a water balloon at the window of the house and breaking it. It’s funny, it’s something that consumers can relate to, and it shows the importance of the product they’re trying to sell: homeowner’s insurance. Humor is a great way to evoke positive emotions from your audience all while conveying a message. We find that funny ads are more memorable for us but that’s us so don’t take our word for it. A study done by the Journal of Marketing discovered that “humor is more likely to enhance recall, evaluation, and purchase intention when the humorous message coincides with ad objectives, is well-integrated, and is viewed as appropriate for the product category.” Under these circumstances, it will:

1.     Grabs the viewer’s attention

2.     Be associated positive emotions with the brand

3.     Make a lasting impression

4.     Increase persuasiveness to purchase

There are different tactics for using humor in your ads, such as surprise, personification, puns, exaggeration, and comparisons. Surprise is just as it sounds and involves a BIG surprise element that shocks the audience. Personification involves giving inanimate objects, plants, or animals humanistic traits. We should all know what a pun is but just in case, a pun involves a play on words. For example, say you’re a cat food brand so you create an ad where something goes wrong and use the statement, “You’ve got to be kitten me right now.” I know that’s not the greatest example but it gets the point across. Exaggeration blows things way out of proportion as the name states. Lastly, the comparison uses a side-by-side comparison with the humor of a particular brand vs another but amplifies the negative aspects of the competitor. All of that said, there are several types of humor that a brand can use in their ads such as:

1.     Irreverent: this style is also called dark humor. Older populations won't respond as well to this style. It also appeals to those that are highly intelligent but isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

2.     Dead Pan: blunt and awkward. Dry and emotionless in style. Good for funnily giving information.

3.     Absurd: as it sounds it’s weird. It pushes boundaries and is typically very silly.

4.     Topical: this is all about trending events. DO NOT do something about tragedies or disasters. You will miss the mark there.

5.     Wordplay: pun intended. You can even play with visuals humor here as well.

6.     Blue: ah, this one is indecent. Usually about sex, it tends to be risqué. You have to be careful with this one though not to offend from being too explicit. You’ll lose business and have to deal with a PR nightmare.

7.     Observational: this turns everyday quirks into relatable scenarios. We can see ourselves doing the funny things that we’re seeing. Important to know your audience on this one.

Humor is a great way to spice up your advertising campaigns and humorous using user-generated content is even better! Get creative here but stay appropriate and make them LOL IRL. And of course, if you need help with finding that perfect funny piece of content, contact us anytime at info@locomotivecontent.co

Zero Party Data: Why & How

Let’s talk about consent before we dive into this topic. Consent is a term that is typically associated with sexual activity as well as within the medical field as informed consent. However, we feel that consent extends to any type of approval given by an individual, including data collection. Third-party data is data from a provider across other mediums that has no direct relationship with the customer, which is why this has been a hot topic lately regarding individual rights. First-party data is the other side of this coin. The more ethical side. The term zero party data was assembled by Forrester research only in 2020 and is defined as data that is shared by the customer, “intentionally and proactively with a brand.” Brands that intend to stay ahead when third-party data goes away should be focusing heavily on zero-party data collection. There are some serious benefits to collecting zero-party data besides being a more ethically sound brand. These include:

1.     More accurate customer information

2.     More engaging with the customer

3.     Customers are more trustworthy of the brand

4.     Creates a more personalized audience experience

5.     It will help AI generate more accurate predictions about their audience

There is a plethora of ways to collect data to better your brand experience for your audience. Here are a few.

1.     Quizzes

2.     Surveys

3.     Contests

4.     Account creation

5.     Chatbots

6.     Social media polls

We should all get comfortable in the zero-party data space soon because this will be the future of data collection. The EU created the EU General Data Protection Requirements in 2018 and the CA Consumer Privacy Act limits the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information so you can see that individuals’ rights to privacy when it comes to data are getting stricter. It will be more and more important to collect zero-party data and move away from third if you had used it in the past.

Emotional Advertising: Fear Appeal

“This is your brain…. This is your brain on drugs,” says the actor as they drop an egg into a frying pan and begin to scramble it. These types of ads are often designed to create a reactionary response to motivate a particular behavior. In this case, it was to motivate behaviors for non-drug use. We’ve written on emotional advertising before but we wanted to do a deeper dive into each type of emotional advertising. This week we focus on fear appeal. A theory was developed by a woman named Kim Witte called Extended Parallel Process Model that explains why and when people follow health recommendations. Something called the danger control response is ideal for changing behavior and occurs when the threat is high and the individual’s sense of efficacy is greater than the threat. If the individual’s self-efficacy is lower than the perceived threat then the person will show a defensive response to the fear control ad. You saw examples of these types of ads during the pandemic with the “get vaccinated” campaigns. To sum it up, EPPM states that the perceived threat MUST be higher than the person’s self-efficacy to work. Also, the audience must be understood to create an effective fear appeal campaign. It needs to make people think, “Oh wow, that could be me.” Here are a few examples of the types of fear appeal ads that are possible.

1. Personal hygiene

2. Cancer risk

3. Therapy

4. Drunk driving

5. Drugs and tobacco

Since fear appeal can lead to negative feelings and anxiety, care should be used in an ethical manner that focuses on the betterment of people’s lives. Here are some guidelines to follow when creating a fear appeal advertisement.

1. Introduce the threat

   1. Demonstrate severity

   2. Describe with vivid pictures or words

   3. Use solid references

2. Show the risk to the viewer

   1. Focus on the audience here

   2. Point out similarities between viewers and those in the ad

   3. Personalize it to your audience

3. Show the effectiveness of the solution

4. Show viewers they can use solutions in their lives

A fear appeal can take the form of FOMO, fear of change, fear of death, fear of risks, and fear of failure. Now that you understand what makes a proper fear appeal ad you can use this to your advantage. Keep it personal and keep it ethical.

Importance of Curiosity

Desire. The desire to know something. This incredible motivator for learning facilitates the pursuit of knowledge and creativity. Children have this inherent trait of curiosity to learn about the new world they are in, childlike wonder if you will. We believe that when you stop being curious about things and become complacent it inhibits learning and thusly, growth will decay, whether it be personal or professional. When we think of the traits of successful people, the first one to come to mind is probably not curiosity. However, research shows that allowing curiosity to be piqued in a way that you don’t know the answer to something can increase the curiosity of a task and primes your brain for learning. All great, successful leaders were deeply curious in their respective fields. As humans, we have this attribute of wanting to seek out new information and experience. The workplace can benefit greatly from an environment that cultivates curiosity. There are some serious benefits as well, such as gaining more respect as a leader from your team, inspiring creative solutions, and enticing deeper, more rational thinking. Your employees won’t feel stressed about coming to you for questions when they’re encouraged to do so; this communication will remove many barriers. Here are some ways to encourage curiosity in the workplace.

1.     Ask employees daily “why” questions, such as:

a.     What is one thing that you are curious about today?

b.     What is one thing that you take for granted that you want to ask about?

2.     Emphasize learning: it’s been proven that focusing on learning instead of the goal is more beneficial to the business. Looks like the old saying, “It’s about the journey, not the destination,” may be on to something here. Emphasize learning goals over performance goals, such as hitting numbers, etc. According to Harvard Business Review, “When people are motivated by learning goals, they acquire more-diverse skills, do better at work, get higher grades in college, do better on problem-solving tasks, and receive higher ratings after training.”

3.     Hire with curiosity in mind: ask potential employees about their interests outside of work. People that read about a wide variety of topics typically are curious about learning things. You can administer curiosity assessments in the hiring process as well as take note of the questions that the potential employee asks.

4.     Lead through an example: leaders can always foster curiosity in the workplace by being inquisitive. Ask questions from your employees when you may not have an answer. This shows them that you are human and will foster trust in the relationship because you trust them enough to ask for their help.

5.     Encourage employees to broaden their horizons: For example, companies such as Facebook give their employees time off to explore their interests outside of work. Some brands even pay for further education for their employees. Whatever your resources may be, encourage your employees to go out and explore their unknown.

Curious people tend to be more open-minded and create relationships with others more easily. Curiosity will increase creative thinking, collaboration, and deep problem-solving that can lead to innovative ideas. If you want your brand to be one of the top brands in the world in your niche, then creating an environment that promotes curiosity in the workplace and outside is a must. Stay curious my friends!  

Marketing for Good: Social Marketing

This style of marketing is sometimes called “marketing for good.” This style of marketing promotes a positive societal transformation that tries to influence positive actions instead of selling a product. Social marketing attempts to change behavior for the benefit of consumers or society. Commercial marketing, on the other hand, will attempt to change behavior for the benefit of the brand, such as sales. Typically, social marketing is used by nonprofits, charities, government organizations, emergency services, police, and fire groups. So, what is involved in social marketing and how do you go about creating a campaign? Here are some things to consider.

1.     What behavior is it that I’m trying to change?

2.     What benefits are there from this behavior change?

3.     Who is the audience?

4.     Are there any barriers preventing this change?

5.     How can I reduce those barriers if so?

Make sure that you test your ideas on smaller groups before “going live” and see how it does. Some benefits of social marketing are promoting greener, more sustainable living, promoting health consciousness, reducing social issues, allowing you to reach a larger audience, and it is cost-effective. If a brand uses social marketing then they will benefit from taking a stance on a topic because people now want to buy from socially and environmentally responsible businesses. In short, some things should happen to have an effective social marketing campaign: create interest/awareness, change attitudes, motivate people to want to change, incite that change, and sustain it. It could take some time to see if the change happened and when we some time, we mean years. It’s not uncommon for social marketing campaign measurements to happen slowly, over time. You will have to be patient but following the right guidelines will almost certainly help you succeed.

Shining Moments: Our Greatest Success Story

Since starting Locomotive, we have had a multitude of projects come through our doors. We treat each and everyone the same and put the utmost time and high-quality efforts into them. We view every project as an opportunity to showcase our skills at the maximum level. Whether the project is with a top ad agency or a smaller, local one, we give our clients our best work. Today we’re going to highlight what we consider to be our greatest success story at Locomotive. When looking back it was hard to choose a particular single moment. Was it a campaign? A small win within working on a project? A relationship that we fostered with an agency? While we are proud of all of those things we think what we’re most proud of is what sets us apart from other advertising brands. Our shining moment is not one moment but many. It’s in every project we do. It’s in every client we foster a relationship with. We are proud to be a white glove service. “There’s no account team, no red tape to cut through, and everyone on the partner team, always has access to the CEO during the projects. While our competitors focus on scaling, with the goal of selling their business, we focus on quality.” says founder, Dustin Pagliughi. “We are also a small boutique of team members who are content experts with each of them having over 15 years of experience. They are highly specialized in finding and clearing the best content from the web from all over the world.” This is also why we think that the future of advertising will have a larger space for found content because it’s inherently relatable. Especially since it was not created to sell a product or service. People trust real people!

Difference Between UGC & CGC

There’s a new term out there and it’s called CGC. If you have been with us for a while, you know what UGC is. If not, it can be defined as any piece of organic content created by a user. Hence, the name is user-generated content. So then, what is CGC? It is similar to UGC except that the people creating the content are professionals and it is typically co-produced with the brand. Let’s be clear here. These are not influencers. These are creators and they add value to a brand’s particular niche. Usually, they hire the creators to create content for them but the creators themselves do not post that content on their pages. This allows for more control from the brand. The goal here is not reach and it is very cost-efficient for the brand. For example, our social media manager is a creator in her particular niche of Muay Thai kickboxing. An app brand reached out to her to create Muay Thai content for them every week for a predetermined fee. They send her a new brief each week with a due date. She follows the guidelines for creating the videos and invoices them at the end of each month. When they share the content, she has created for them, they add a collaborator tag that she can either accept or decline on social media. There will also never be a lack of content creators in today’s digital world. Being that we’re a content advertising agency we’ve worked on both styles of campaigns. Our UGC campaigns are usually organic, unproduced content from creators that may or may not have large followings. In other campaigns, we have enlisted content creators to create certain content for the brand from their specific briefs. This is a great example of creator-generated content. Do you want to learn how UGC and CGC can increase our brand’s social proof? Contact us today to find out how.

Scratch Baking: How to Build an Email List

Email marketing is one of the most effective. A stat according to Statista said that “companies make an average of $36 for every U.S. dollar they spend on email marketing.” That’s some pretty good ROI, right?! But… how do you get a quality email list? First, you have to get quality contact information. Second, you need relevant prospects who will want to buy what you are selling. Lastly, you will need to grow that quality, relevant list to BIG numbers. Here are a couple of ways to start an email list for your brand.

1.     Add an Opt-In button on your website: these could be in the form of “sign up for our newsletter” or “join our community.” It could even be a contact form for inquiries. No matter which one you go with, it should be on every page of your website.

2.     Collect emails in person: if you throw an event or have a brick-and-mortar store, you can collect emails with a sign-up sheet. In-person connections are still the best and produce the best results. Transition your encounters from IRL to URL.

3.     Pop-up offers: these can offer some type of discounted product/service for a signup. This speaks to the gated content we wrote about last week. Offer discounts for submitting email information to receive promotional codes.

No matter which methods you choose to build your email list, it’s important that you obtain permission for their information and never buy email lists. You want quality contacts that fit within your niche. With email marketing your efforts are more precise with targeted audiences and you can personalize their experience with your brand.

Propinquity Effect

Have you ever met someone new and felt that instant click? You somehow knew that the two of you were going to be friends? It may even feel like you’ve known them for years already. You can’t quite put your finger on what it is but you know you’re a match for each other somehow. This is the propinquity effect. This is caused when we meet someone with similar ideologies, attitudes, beliefs, etc. as ourselves. It is also known as the proximity between two individuals as well. When someone is in contact or closer to someone a relationship is more likely to form with that individual. Brands can use this effect to create strong bonds with their brand image and voice to those with similar ideologies, etc. If you create a solid and consistent image of your brand that your audience can relate to and expose them to your image more often, then you are destined for success when using the propinquity effect. This strengthens brand salience. There are two reasons that this effect can take place.

1.     Physical distance from someone: this proposes that the physically closer you are to someone, the more likely you are to have an interaction with them. Typically, interactions are neutral or positive and thus, provoke positive experiences. This is how relationships begin.

2.     Mere exposure effect: if a person is exposed to a particular stimulus more often, then the more favorably that stimulus tends to be evaluated. For example, you have a name that ends in the same last letter as someone in your classroom and therefore, you two are more likely to interact more often due to being seated in alphabetical order.

Proximity and like-minded values will create strong ties with your customers, whether it be B2C or B2B. Actually, “Research shows that the modern B2B prospect gets 57% of the way through the buying decision before ever talking to a sales rep” (Converse Digital). Cultivating brand salience through email, social media presence, and digital advertising is one of the most important.

Guide to Gated Content

“I am Vinz, Vinz Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer.Volguus Zildrohar, Lord of the Sebouillia. Are you the Gatekeeper?”

-Ghostbusters  

What is gated content? It is any type of content that viewers can access only after they have given their information, such as email address. This is a way for brands to collect emails for lead generation. It can lead to more sales, and email list growth, and provide insights into your customers. Here are some examples of gated content that your brand can use to generate new leads.

1.     eBooks: these are a quick and easy way to educate your audience without face-to-face contact. Some people prefer information that they can read and ingest on their own time. Typically, these are short and highly specialized.  

2.     White papers: these are usually longer than eBooks. Again, it shows your expertise in a topic area and is very in-depth and informative.

3.     Webinars: this is an educational opportunity for your audience. Not only will you get their information, you will be able to build trust, show your expertise, and inspire.

4.     Templates: we know we’ve downloaded HubSpot’s social media content calendar tracker templates and use them every day. We gave them our email information to receive their daily blogs. We honestly both benefited from that scenario. We love their blogs and we found the scheduler very useful.

5.     Product/service demonstrations: as it sounds, this is a demo of what your brand has to offer. It should show the benefits of the brand’s services/products. This could provide proof that a potential customer will need to pull the trigger on going with your brand over another.

People will assume, and rightfully so, that gated content is more valuable than ungated because they must perform extra steps to obtain it. That said, it’s important to make sure that it does provide value to them. Gated content can help you weed out those who won’t become real customers because they will not want to take the extra steps and give their information. The gated content your brand creates should be well thought out to be valuable and informative. Use your creative juices to appeal to your audience!

Conformity Bias and Social Influence in Advertising

Most people are influenced heavily by society, whether they will admit to it or not. Conformity bias is when we change our behavior to become part of a bigger group or trend. This is the whole concept behind things that are “trending.” Think about hashtag challenges. People swarm for a chance to become part of these in hopes that their videos will go viral. With this in mind, how can your brand leverage conformity bias and social influence? For one, it can help with brand loyalty. Conformity to a particular group can satisfy Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to belong. “Self-image congruence will reinforce the effect of conformity motivation on brand loyalty” (Journal of Brand Management, 2011). Here are some things that affect conformity bias in your advertising efforts:

1.     Review

2.     Number of followers

3.     Word-of-mouth marketing

4.     Endorsements

In advertising, using these examples listed above can help your campaigns succeed, not only due to the conformity bias and social influence, but also through trust and transparency. Inspiring your audience will almost ensure success.

Project Completion: Dealing with Grief

We never really think about the fact that advertising is a fast-paced industry with high demand. It comes in waves of really, really crazy and stuck in the doldrums. In other words, the highs are high and the lows can be low. We saw an article the other day that talked about dealing with grief when a big project ends. It’s interesting to think about. Sometimes we spend large amounts of time on these projects and we can feel a sense of sadness when they’re over, just like any other art profession. Actors deal with this. Athletes deal with this. Academics deal with this. We will tend to experience post-project depression and it’s a real term known by psychologists. Typically, it’s coupled with triumph and satisfaction but eventually that high wears off and we’re left with sadness. Having a purpose gives you motivation and determination, so it’s good to have these projects that make you feel that way. But that said any change in familiar patterns of behavior can cause conflicted feelings. This is the definition of grief. Here are some ways to deal with career grief after a project ends.

1.     CELEBRATE & REFLECT: celebrate the finish of the project and just give yourself a little time to breathe afterward. This is a time to reflect on your career and its role in your life. This is where you can look at the previous project in depth. What went right and wrong? Did you enjoy the project? How would you do it differently and how did it change your outlook? What else can you do in place of your career that you draw confidence from?

2.     Feel those feelings: it’s important to not push down the feelings you are having. Feel them, make space in your life for them, and let them out, however, you need to through journaling, therapy, etc. Talking it out with someone can help you work through these emotions.

3.     Be patient with yourself: give yourself time to grieve a little and adjust to your new normal. Adjust your routine if you need to fill the gaps where that project took up so much time.

4.     Inspiration: look for new inspiration. What can you do to draw inspiration from? This is especially important for those in the creative fields. I know that I like to run to get my creative thoughts going. So many of my best ideas come to me when I’m just jogging along in the park in the early hours of the morning.

Career-related grief can have a huge impact on your life and your sense of self. You are not defined by your career, so it’s important to have a system in place to create self-worth in other areas of your life as well. Ask yourself these questions: What am I passionate about other than my career? What kinds of things can I do to challenge myself mentally and physically? What kinds of things do I enjoy doing in my free time? What things do I want to prioritize in my life right now?

The 10 Kawasaki Slide Method

Guy Kawasaki is a world-renowned entrepreneur who created a list of 10 slides to pitch your business idea to investors. He used to be the Chief Evangelist of Apple and currently Canva. Rob Schwartz recently did a blog on this idea, and we loved his breakdown. Guy follows the 10-20-30 rule. 10 slides, 20 minutes, and 30-point font. Here are what these 10 slides are all about.

1.     Title: Who are you and what is your idea? First impressions go a long way here so it must be impactful. This is where all contact information should be and don’t be afraid to add s headline, image, or photo.

2.     The problem: What is the problem that your business idea is going to solve? Clearly state the problem and how your brand plans to fix it. Bullet points are good here.

3.     Value proposition: This is where you get to explain your value as a business. Why is your idea the best? What makes your brand different than all the rest?

4.     Business Model: How will your business make money? Is it subscription-based, fee-based, sales, etc? This shows your business plan and should include data.

5.     Underlying magic: This slide should describe your secret recipe so to speak. Less text and more diagrams here. If you have a demo or prototype this is the place for it. It will demonstrate how you will launch the product/service and how it all works from start to finish.

6.     Marketing & sales: Who is the target audience and how do you plan to reach them? How will you make your business blow up and have people throwing their money at it?

7.     Competitors: Who are your top competitors? You cannot overdo it here. Show your current performance, if any, compared to your competition.

8.     Your team: Highlight those that are on your team and show why they are each an asset to your brand.

9.     Projections & metrics: What do the financials look like over time? This is where you can show how much you have invested and what they would invest. Charts are good here to project growth. Use a 3-year bottom-to-top visual. How long will it take you to make your/their money back? How large do you think can you get? Make sure to add metrics that aren’t purely financial here, such as customer numbers and conversion rates.

10.  Timeline, status, & appropriation of funds: Highlight your current business situation and the future. Timeline gives potential investors an idea of how long it will take them to reach these goals. Where are you now on this journey? Make sure to end with a bang because this is the last thing that they will remember before leaving.

So, do you have a great business idea and or just started one? Do you need to get into the right hands to grow? Follow this guideline for an effective PowerPoint presentation to make sure that your pitch is conveyed in a way that’s informative, fast, and still interesting! Good luck!

Acquiescence Effect

Are you a people pleaser? Turns out that since we live in a society with behavior standards and expectations most people want to act a certain way to “fit in”. Acquiescence bias occurs when people agree with sentiments or statements even when they may disagree with them. For example, when a survey is conducted many respondents will answer based on what they think the researchers want to hear instead of what they feel. When conducting market research for your brand it’s important to avoid this effect to obtain accurate responses that will be used for product and service improvements. There are a few things that cause this bias when conducting audience surveys for your brand.

1.     Ideal self-perception: this occurs when people select answers based on their version of themselves that they believe is ideal rather than the reality of who they are. This is because they want to be seen a certain way instead of as they are.

2.     Agreeability: again, what we touched on above. This is the fact that people want to be a certain way and provide feedback that they think is believed to be acceptable.

3.     Social influence: people tend to answer questions of social behavior in a way that portrays them favorably in the community, whether or not they exhibit these said behaviors.

4.     Perceived authority: this is what we touched on above where respondents answer the way they think the researchers want to see. This happens often when the study group is aware of the study’s objectives.

5.     Unengaged respondents: this occurs when people don’t read the questions to provide thoughtful answers. It can happen when a survey is too long and they become uninterested.

Now that we know the reasons for motivating this bias, it’s easier to come up with ways to avoid it. Here are a few ways to avoid acquiescence bias.

1.     Make it short and sweet: it’s less overwhelming when the surveys are quicker and easier to complete. This will reduce the number of unengaged respondents.

2.     Be clear & use intentional language: it’s important to phrase your questions and answers. You don’t want to make your respondents feel as if they’re being judged for their answers and avoid questions that may make people feel negatively.

3.     Open-ended questions: add a text box to fit their exact experiences. Even if the answer explains a negative experience they’re still likely to describe it positively.

4.     Avoid leading questions: leading questions are no good. If they are compelled to respond in a certain way, they will. You want honesty, not bias.

It’s great to see positive reviews about your brand but they mean nothing if they’re affected by a cognitive bias and will likely lead you down the wrong path to improvement. Doing everything in your power to avoid acquiescence bias is crucial to collecting accurate data sets. We work in user-generated content advertising to create organic connections between brand and audience so we value genuine business relationships. When the responses aren’t genuine then it’s essentially a waste of your brand’s time and money. Following proper steps to avoid cognitive bias, such as this one will allow your brand to flourish naturally to the correct audience.

Brand Engagement Strategies

“More than 60% of customers interact through multiple channels, and irrespective of time, place, device, or medium, they expect consistency” (Deloitte Digital). There are two types of brand engagement: internal and external. External is what we will be talking about here between the brand and customers. Brands can engage with their audience in a variety of ways today more than ever. Social media, email marketing, digital advertising, live events, etc. That being said, there is a difference between brand engagement and customer engagement. Brand engagement is focused on pulling consumers to the business whereas customer engagement pushes people toward actions towards a purchase. Brand engagement tends to be on a larger scale than customer engagement as well. Here are strategies to increase customer engagement for your brand.

1. Surveys to improve the brand: people will feel seen and heard. If your brand listens to and implements feedback well, it will develop a good reputation from WOM.

2. Emphasize customer reviews: this is a form of user-generated content and others will trust the brand more if they see good reviews from real people.

3. User-friendly mobile websites, etc.: everyone uses their phone to look up things on the internet in today’s world. Your websites and social sites must be mobile-friendly. Otherwise, their time spent there will be less than limited.

4. Post consistently on social media channels: social media makes the world go ‘round. You have to be consistent with not only posting but also your brand voice. This will engage your customers to like, share, and comment. Integrating your social media channels onto your website can also be great.

5. The Four I Strategy

   1. Involvement: make your customers part of your marketing campaigns

   2. Influence: use influencers or content creators they like to endorse your brand

   3. Interaction: when your customers do interact with your brand, you have to respond to them quickly and personally.

   4. Intimacy: get up close and personal with your audience at different points in their journey on different channels. This will help you further understand their needs.

Brand engagement matters! It can help your brand get its name out there even more through WOM. Aside from this, it can also increase your knowledge of customer expectations so that you’re better equipped to meet them. This will improve overall customer experience and in turn, increase sales to give you a competitive advantage. There are a few ways to measure your engagement strategy efforts: social media engagement, email subscribers and opens, website traffic, and customer feedback. Once you start your strategy it will be important to improve on the areas that are performing low. One great way to do this is to incorporate UGC into your campaigns. The ultimate goal of brand engagement is to cultivate a culture around your brand that bolsters advocacy. If you’re looking to add user-generated content to your marketing campaigns but aren’t sure where to start, contact us to learn more!